Vanessa earns a base salary of $400.00 every week with an additional 5% commission on everything she sells. If Vanessa sold $1650.00 worth of items last week, what was her total salary?
Solution: First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $5\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{5}{100}$ which is also equal to $5 \div 100$ $5 \div 100 = 0.05$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.05$ $\times$ $$1650.00$ $=$ $$82.50$ We can find the total salary for Vanessa by adding the amount of commission made to her base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$82.50$ $+$ $$400.00$ $=$ $$482.50$ The total salary Vanessa made last week was $$482.50$.